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China’s rebar output from 137 sampled steelmakers ballooned by another 6.3% on week to reach 2.9 million tonnes during March 19-25, though the growth was slightly less vigorous than the 10% on-week jump seen in the prior survey week, according to Mysteel’s latest weekly production study. The slower increase was mainly due to some blast-furnace mills idling some rolling capacity for maintenance during the period.
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Mysteel’s Chinese national average benchmark price for the Q235 4.75mm HRC declined to a new low since June 21 2017 as of March 27, hitting Yuan 3,471/t including the 13% VAT, as the market has been enveloped by great pessimism amid the concern on the domestic demand and the uncertainties in both China’s and global economies, according to market sources.
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China’s domestic prices of major steel products all reversed down over March 23-27, even though spot sales volume had remained high, partly as most traders still rushed to conclude more deals rather than to prop up prices amid the growing uncertainties in the global economic environment amid the worsening COVID-19 situation, Mysteel Global noted.
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Below is the brief near-term outlook of the five key steel products Mysteel shares on a weekly basis basing on a series of related surveys and communication with market participants.
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Ordinary steel inventories held by Chinese traders declined further over the period of March 20-26, thanks to continuing firm downstream demand, new data indicated. However, traders still showed some hesitation about stepping up prices for now, Mysteel Global has learned from the market.
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China’s rebar output from 137 sampled steelmakers across the country jumped up a notable 9.8% or 242,300 tonnes on week to 2.7 million tonnes during March 12-18, much faster than the 1.4% on-week growth in the prior survey week, according to Mysteel’s latest weekly production study.
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Chinese export steel prices softened further after Beijing announced increases to export tax rebates on some steel items from March 20, but export transactions did not improve much despite the price drops, export sources tell Mysteel Global. Global steel prices fell faster and the few buyers with interest turned to cheaper products, they explained.
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Hot-rolled coil (HRC) inventories with the traders in the 33 Chinese cities reversed down over March 13-19 after nearly three consecutive months of growths since late December 2019 to about 4 million tonnes as of March 19, more as Chinese steel mills had been trimming output amid the dismal market situation, Mysteel’s latest weekly survey showed.
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China’s domestic spot steel prices kept increasing over March 16-20, as the demand from the downstream industries had been steadily improving, while steel futures prices retreated on the market uncertainties amid a mix of positive and negative news, Mysteel Global noted.
Rebar: China’s national average HRB400 20mm dia rebar benchmark price
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Below is the brief near-term outlook of the five key steel products Mysteel shares on weekly basis basing on a series of related surveys and communication with market participants.
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The most-traded rebar contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange for May delivery closed the daytime trading session on Friday at Yuan 3,483/tonne ($498/t), down Yuan 86/t on week though up Yuan 22/t from the prior day’s settlement price, an indication that sentiment in the domestic futures market had become a bit more wary.
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Total stocks of the five major finished steel products held by the 184 steel mills across China which Mysteel monitors slipped for a third week over March 19-25 to 10.87 million tonnes, down 6.8% from one week before. The dip occurred despite the fact that steel production had recovered steadily during that period, indicating that steel consumption in the domestic market has improved further, Mysteel Global notes.
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Total stocks of the five major finished steel products held by the 184 steel mills across China which Mysteel monitors emptied at a faster pace over the March 12-18 week, thanks to the further recovery in demand, with the tonnage slipping to 11.67 million tonnes as of March 18, Mysteel’s latest weekly survey showed. The rate of decline of 9.6% on week was much sharper than the 4.5% dip recorded over the prior week, Mysteel Global notes.
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Total inventories of the five major steel items held by Chinese traders finally entered de-stocking territory after steadily increasing for nearly three months, Mysteel Global has learned. And it was improving demand, not production cuts, that did it.
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Chinese steel exporters are finding it increasingly hard to close deals with overseas buyers recently, market sources admit. Strong bearish sentiment exits in international steel markets as countries brace for slowing domestic economic growth, while in China the recovery in domestic sales has reduced the willingness of mills and traders to chase overseas business, Mysteel Global understands.
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Rebar output among the 137 Chinese steelmakers including blast-furnace plants, mini mills and re-rollers checked regularly by Mysteel continued to climb higher during March 5-11 to reach 2.49 million tonnes, mainly because more makers resumed production after completing plant maintenance, according to Mysteel’s latest weekly production study.
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Hot-rolled coil (HRC) stocks at China’s 37 flat steelmakers declined for the third week over March 6-12 to a one-month-low of 1.62 million tonnes, as the producers had been devoted to destocking the mounting inventories and slowed down the pace in production, Mysteel’s latest survey showed.
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China’s domestic steel prices both at the physical and futures markets grew further over March 9-13, as downstream demand had been steadily recovering with the COVID-19 under the control for now, though the space for rises had been limited by the traders’ rush to offload high stocks and to mitigate pressure from tight cashflows.
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Below is the brief near-term outlook of the five key steel products Mysteel shares on weekly basis basing on a series of related surveys and communication with market participants.
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Total stocks of the five major finished steel products at the 184 steel mills across China which Mysteel monitors witnessed a turning point over the March 5-11 week, reversing down by 4.5% from the previous week’s record high to reach 12.9 million tonnes, as steelmakers restricted production and demand from end users recovered further, Mysteel’s latest weekly survey showed. The five products tracked are rebar, wire rod, hot rolled coil, cold rolled coil and medium plate.
